A 3-year-old Michigan girl who miraculously survived a vicious dog attack last year still has a long way to go.

Arial Canen lost her ears and most of her head is a skin graft. Family say insurance won't cover the procedure she needs for new ears.

The girl's mother says last April, Arial was playing on the trampoline at her grandmother's house when the neighbor's pit bull attacked.

"I'm guessing the dog had snatched her by her head, her hair or something," Arial's mother, Kendra Canen, said. "We're grateful that she's alive. Moving forward, we live day by day so we have good days and we have bad days."

Canen believes there can be better days.

She wants to have prosthetic ears made for her daughter before she starts school.

The operation comes at the hefty price of nearly $12,000. Canen says Medicaid won't cover it because the procedure was deemed cosmetic.

And there's where police and businesses throughout their county are stepping in.

Lt. Oliver Fiala with the Central Cass Fire Department is organizing a fundraiser for Arial in May in hopes of raising a lot of the needed money.

"All of the areas in this community do a great job of coming together in a time of need," Lt. Fiala said. "And so, this just happened to be a time of need and we came together and hopefully it works out flawlessly."

Canen has a good attitude and remains hopeful of giving her daughter back what she lost.

"She knows she doesn't have them because we were talking about headphones the other day and she said, 'I don't need them. I don't have ears (laugh) okay."

Warning: The link below leads to a fundraising page that features graphic images that may be upsetting.